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In the September 2025 issue of the Alternative Power Report produced by Power Systems Research and authored by Guy Youngs, you’ll find articles on another major OEM dropping EV plans, an article on falling battery prices, a new more powerful and flexible EV battery from CATL, India’s EV pickup revolution and much more. Read the September Alternative Power Report today. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
Yet another big name in automaker is pulling back on its EV plans, blaming slower than expected demand for electric vehicles. Volkswagen’s luxury sports car brand, Porsche, has announced that it no longer plans to build EV batteries in-house.
Cellforce, Porsche’s high-performance EV battery company, will shrink and only focus on research and development, rather than production. In a statement, Porsche blamed “the slower ramp-up” of EVs and “challenging market conditions” in its biggest markets, the US and China, for the changes.
Porsche plans to continue offering internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrid, and all-electric options across every segment “well into the 2030s.”
The automotive industry is currently paying about US$ 63 (€54) per kilowatt-hour for LFP battery cells and US$ 68 (€58) per kilowatt-hour for NMC battery cells. Three years ago, when the price of battery-grade lithium was soaring into the stratosphere and supply chain interruptions were affecting industries around the globe, LFP batteries were costing manufacturers US$ 148 (€127) per kilowatt-hour, with NMC batteries costing US$ 164 (€140) per kilowatt-hour — both more than double their cost today.
At the Munich Motor Show, the global leader in electric vehicle batteries made its presence known. CATL introduced its Shenxing Pro, deeming it “the world’s first LFP battery to deliver a 758 km WLTP range.”
India’s electric vehicle market is growing steadily at 24-25% annually, but from a surprisingly small base — EVs represent just 2.5% of all vehicles sold in 2024. However, one segment could change that trajectory dramatically: electric pickup trucks. These are not the big pickup trucks that US readers are familiar with, but rather this is based on India’s own vehicle categorization, which we would define as light small trucks.
Light commercial pickup trucks dominate India’s commercial vehicle market, commanding approximately 57% market share with over 543,000 units sold in fiscal year 2024. This makes them the largest single vehicle category in the commercial sector, and potentially the key to achieving India’s ambitious electrification targets.
PSR Analysis: This segment represents the single largest opportunity for commercial vehicle electrification in India. This electric pickup revolution is being driven by these compact, urban-focused vehicles rather than traditional pickup trucks, which remain largely absent from the Indian electric vehicle market. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
Chinese Scientists May Have Created Powerful Lithium Metal Battery.Researchers at Tianjin University reportedly have made a battery with an energy density of over 600 watt-hours per kilogram, twice as much energy as Tesla’s most advanced electric vehicle battery. Energy density, the amount of energy stored per unit mass, determines how much power is stored in a device.
PSR Analysis: Lithium metal batteries are known to have a higher theoretical energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries and are considered a promising next-generation solution. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast and Technology Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
481,000 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Scooters expected to be produced in North America during 2025.
Scooters/Minibikes/Mopeds are motorized 2-wheeled vehicles used primarily for recreational.
This product information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.
How things have changed. Less than a year ago the industry was gearing up for a huge 2026 class 8 truck pre-buy ahead of the phase 3 GHG emission regulations that would add significant cost to the price of a truck. Road freight was expected to rebound after the post covid freight recession, and the heavy truck replacement cycle was expected to begin. OEMs filled dealer lots in anticipation of strong demand starting in early to mid-2025 and lasting through all of 2026.
As a result of very strong freight shipments and supply chain disruptions during the Covid era, fleets were purchasing as many trucks as possible which resulted in very high truck sales from 2022 – 2024. This resulted in truck overcapacity within the market.
In July, the Trump administration proposed a draft rule rolling back the Greenhouse Gas Phase 3 rule, among the last of – if not the biggest – looming Biden-era emissions regulations facing the trucking industry.
The proposal was announced jointly with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Lee Zeldin’s call to revoke the Endangerment Finding that has allowed presidential administrations to regulate greenhouse gases since 2009.
The repeal of greenhouse gas regulations is a long road that includes a lengthy rulemaking process and likely numerous legal challenges.
BP first bought a 40.5% operating stake in the Australian Renewable Energy Hub project in 2022, and its share in the joint venture grew to 63.57% in recent years. The project would include the installation of up to 26 GW of solar and wind generation, much of which would have been used to produce green hydrogen and ammonia.
British energy major BP has informed its partners that it intends to exit the $55 billion (USD 36.14 billion) green energy hub planned for Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
PSR Analysis: BP’s decision (which reflects BP’s recent strategy reset) comes after energy and mining giant Fortescue formally announced it has abandoned plans for a green hydrogen project in Queensland and is another blow to hydrogen in Australia. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research